Greece – North Aegean Islands (Lemnos, Lesbos, Samos, Chios) December 23, 2019
There is a daily ferry from Cesme, Turkey to Chios at 18:30 except on Dec 23, 24 and 25th, Daily ferry Chios to Cesme in the mornings. I originally booked the ferry (€160 with a vehicle) for 18:30 on December 22 with the first return date on the 26th. But due to a storm, that ferry was canceled so instead of eating Greek food for Xmas, it would have been Turkish. I rebooked to go on the 26th at 18:30 and would have had to stay all day on the 27th to see anything and return on the morning of the 28th (making my 1500km drive through Turkey and to the far side of Greece a big rush (I was booked on the ferry to Venice at 06:30 on the 31st).
But there was a different ferry not listed on ferries.gr that was going at 09:30 on the 23rd, returning the same day at 17:00, so I took that (€25). It was a rough 1½ hour crossing.
This gave me 4 whole days more to drive for the ferry in Greece, a much more pleasant trip.
CHIOS
MONASTERIES of DAPHNE, HOSIOS LOUKAS, AND NEA MONI of CHIOS. A combined World Heritage Site 2000. All three are far apart (Daphni is in Athens).
NEA MONI (New Monastery). This is an 11th-century monastery located on the side of the Provatelo Oros Mountains in the island’s interior about 14kms from Chios town. It was built by Byzantine emperor Constantine IX and his wife, Empress Zoe on the site where three monks miraculously found an icon of the Virgin Mary hanging from a myrtle branch. The main church (Katholikon) was built between 1049-1055 dedicated to Theotokos. In 1049, it was granted the head tax of all Jews on Chios, tax exemption, and land grants making it one of the wealthiest in the Aegean. At its peak around 1300, it controlled one-third of the island of Chios and had 800 monks.
The monastery declined after the destruction of Chios by the Ottomans in 1822 in the Greek War of Independence when it was looted and never recovered. The 1882 earthquake caused the collapse of the dome and the 1512 bell tower. In 1952, due to the shortage of monks, it was converted to a convent, inhabited in 2001 by only 3 nuns.
Katholikon. Dedicated to the Dormition of the Virgin Mary, it has a porch entry, an exonarthex (lovely 3 domes with faded frescoes and marble inlay floors), exonarthex, and an octagonal church all dating to the 11th century but significantly damaged in 1822 and 1881. The 1900 bell tower replaced the older one built-in 1512.
It is known for its mosaics, some of the finest examples of Macedonian Renaissance art in Greece. Characterized by dramatic expression, monastic simplicity, and the large gold backgrounds, they were made of natural stones and later of glass showing scenes from the life of Christ and the Archangels Michael and Gabriel.
Church of the Holy Cross. A small chapel with a wood iconostasis holding 2 icons and a glass case full of 120 skulls and a bunch of femur bones.
1822 Massacre of Chios. Chios had a population of 117,000 and after only 1,800 were left. Almost 21,000 escaped to other Aegean islands. 52,000 women and children were taken to the slave markets of Asia Minor and North Africa and almost 42,000 were slaughtered. In the monastery, where nearly 3,500 people, mainly women, and children, had come to seek refuge, the massacre took place on Easter Sunday (April 2). Most of the monks were also killed. These are some of their bones.
Church of St Panteleimon. A small church with a wooden iconostasis.
Refectory (dining hall). Contains a 15.15m-long table decorated with 15 inlaid panels of tiny marble pieces in geometric shapes.
Museum. Has a renovated cell and artifacts from the later 19th century.
Cells. 2-storied, they only the lower walls remain, part of an archaeological excavation.
It is surrounded completely by a wall (the original Byzantine wall was destroyed in 1822 and is now rebuilt)
Note that it is closed from 1-4:30.
It is 12kms by a windy switchbacking road, to the monastery, the last 2kms or so actually gradually downhill to the monastery. I asked if there was a path from below that could be walked down to Chios but the driver shrugged his shoulders and pretended to not understand English. But a path (unsure if is intact) and a gravel road head down the valley directly to Chios. It appears to be a lovely walk and much shorter than the road with the possibility of hitchhiking.
The only way here is by taxi – a fixed €18 one-way or €35 return. It is up a mountain road with no other destination so hitchhiking in the off-season would probably have been impossible.
Chios Castle. Enter the original main gate with its 3 right-angle turns and enter a normal Greek town. It is not possible to climb the walls or enter any bastions, but they are relatively intact. The museum was closed as they were putting up a new exhibition. The streets turn into walking-only lanes but otherwise, there is nothing to see. It is not possible to walk around the castle as the walls end in water on the north side. Free
Church of Agios Isidoros. This tiny one-story white church with no dome or tower sits behind a long rough stone wall. The gate was locked, the signs in Greek and there is no indication that it is ever open.
Chios Naval Museum. In a lovely 2-story manor house, this relates through paintings, uniforms, documents, and naval paraphernalia, the history of naval operations in the north Aegean. €2
Byzantine Museum of Chios. Housed in an Ottoman mosque from the second half of the 19th century, it has early Christian and Byzantine sculpture, post-Byzantine icons, folk art, wood carvings, a fresco with a scene of the miracle of St Nicholas, and two marble lintels depicting St George slaying the dragon. €2
I didn’t go here but include it for information.
PYTHAGOREION AND HERAION OF SAMOS
Many civilizations have inhabited this small Aegean island, near Asia Minor, since the 3rd millennium B.C. The remains of Pythagoreion, an ancient fortified port with Greek and Roman monuments and a spectacular tunnel-aqueduct, as well as the Heraion, temple of the Samian Hera, can still be seen.
Samos, due to its geographical location in the eastern Aegean, securing easy communications with the coast of Asia Minor, was one of the most important centers of political and cultural developments from the prehistoric era (5th/4th millennium BC) until almost the Middle Ages. The site is an area on the northeast coast of the island that is clearly defined by the surrounding mountains. It consists of the fortified ancient city (Pythagoreion) and the ancient Temple of Hera (Heraion), which is situated about 6 km away from the city and linked with it.
The earliest finds date back to the 5th/4th millennium BC, during the Neolithic period, but the main settlement began in the 10th century BC when it was colonized by Ionians from Mainland Greece. By the 6th century BC, Samos had become a major nautical power in the eastern Mediterranean, with close trade links with Asia Minor and Mainland Greece. It was strong enough to establish trading colonies on the coast of Ionia, in Thrace, and even in the western Mediterranean.
One of the most famous features is the Eupalinus’ tunnel dating from the 6th century BC, which runs 1036 m through the mountainside to bring water to the ancient city, the work of Eupalinus of Megara, Naustrofus’ son. Samos continued to be an important mercantile city throughout the Hellenistic and Roman periods.
The great Temple of Hera (Heraion) has its origins in the 8th century BC, when it was the first Greek temple to be one hundred feet in length (Hecatompedos). It is unknown if this temple was surrounded by a peristyle of columns; its 7th-century successor was also innovatory in that it was the first temple to have a double row of columns across the front. These were both surpassed by the temple begun around 570-560 BC by Rhoecus and Theodorus, who built a colossal structure measuring 52.5 m by 105 m, the earliest in the new Ionic order. It was supported by at least 100 columns, whose molded bases were turned on a lathe designed by Theodorus. The works for the construction of a new temple, known as the Great Temple of the Goddess Hera, a colossal structure measuring 55.16 m by 108.63 m, and surrounded by a peristyle of 155 columns about 20 m high, were started during the reign of Polycrates (c. 535-522 BC).
The Heraion and the ancient city were adorned with splendid sculptures, making Samos one of the great centers of sculpture in the Ionic world. Offerings from all over the ancient world poured into the sanctuary of Hera. Samos is linked with great personalities of the ancient world, such as the philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras, the philosopher Epicurus, who was of Samian birth, and Aristarchus the Samian, who first established the theory of the planet system in the 4th century BC.
Pythagoreion and Heraion of Samos bear eloquent witness of the Ionian spirit. During its apogee in the 6th century BC, the ancient city of Samos achieved exceptional technical and artistic progress and created innovative methods and works, thus representing a city with a high level of civilization, which merits its inclusion in the Ionian Dodekapolis.
The temple of Hera at Samos is fundamental to an understanding of classical architecture. The stylistic and structural innovations in each of its successive phases strongly influenced the design of temples and public buildings throughout the Greek world. The technological mastery of the Eupalineio similarly served as a model for engineering and public works.
Samos was the leading maritime and mercantile power in the Greek world in the 6th century BC, and this importance is reflected in the extent and richness of the archaeological remains, which are largely untouched by subsequent development.